Windows 8 Phone Might Be Getting Serious About Gaming

Windows 8 Phones are still not out yet, but support for the platform is growing. To be really successful, Microsoft is going to need to get game developers on board. People flock to iOS and Android for the gaming experience and that experience just isn't there yet on Windows Phone 7 for the most part. Windows Phone 8 might just change that with a little help from a certain game engine.

Unity has been announced for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. For those who don't know, Unity is an immensely popular game engine that runs on just about every platform including iOS and Android. It's been used to develop countless games and the engine is complimented by thousands of add-ons from the community.

"Our mission at Unity has always been to provide solutions for developers to effortlessly bring their work to as many different platforms as possible," said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies. "The Unity community has been asking for access to Windows Phones and have been eagerly anticipating the release of Windows 8. We’re happy to announce that we will support both."

The real strength of Unity is that it unifies platforms under a single engine. It's incredibly easy to port projects built on Unity between different platforms. Developers can make a game in Unity for iOS and easily port it to both Android and Windows Phone 8. From there, they can also bring the game to PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and other platforms.

"We are excited that the Unity community will now be given the opportunity to develop world class titles for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8," said John Richards, Senior Director, Windows App Marketing at Microsoft. "The number of high quality Unity-authored games for the PC, Xbox, and mobile devices already created is staggering and we’re looking forward to seeing these products appear in the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Marketplace."

Developers interested in getting their hands on Unity for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 won't have to wait for long. The engine update will be coming with the Unity 4 release cycle later this year.